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Easy Coq Au Vin

This past Tuesday, February 18th, was National Drink Wine day. I didn’t even know it at the time and made Coq Au Vin for dinner while drinking half a bottle of wine, call it intuition. This was my first time attempting to make the classic French dish, which immediately makes one think of Julia Child. I know better than to claim my cooking skills are anywhere close to those of Julia Child, but they get me rave reviews in this house. Coq Au Vin is a braised chicken dish made traditionally with Burgundy wine and bone-in chicken. To make an easier weeknight version I used boneless and skinless chicken breasts and cut a few corners along the way. For base instructions and ingredients I followed a recipe posted by the barefoot contessa, Ina Garten. As with most braised dishes, the final product did not disappoint. We ate this solo like a stew, but it would be amazing served over mashed potatoes.

1. In a large dutch oven brown the diced bacon over medium heat. While this is cooking slice the chicken breasts into 4-5 large strips and season generously with salt and pepper to prepare for cooking. When the bacon is fully cooked remove from pan with a slotted spoon to reserve the rendered fat in the pan.

2. Add a small amount of olive oil to the bacon grease if you need more to fully cover the bottom of the pan. Brown the slices of chicken for a few minutes on each side, do not fully cook. Brown in batch if necessary to not crowd and set on a plate for later.

3. Add the onions, carrots, 2 tsp of salt and 1 tsp of pepper to the oil in the pan and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes until onions are lightly browned and soft. Add the garlic and stir for 1 minute to release a nice garlic aroma without burning.

4. Pour in the brandy, bacon, chicken ( with the juices on the plate), stir in gently and allow to cook for a few minutes before adding the wine, chicken stock, and thyme. Bring to a simmer.

5. Once simmering cover with a lid and place in the oven at 250 degrees F for 35-40 minutes.

6. While the chicken is in the oven slice your mushrooms and place in a heavy skillet with 2 tbsp of butter and 1-2 cloves of minced garlic. Heat over medium heat until mushrooms are lightly browned and softened stirring frequently. There should be a bit of liquid with the mushrooms, if there isn’t add more butter. Add 2 tbsp of flour slowly to the mushrooms and butter to thicken.

>> thicken with flour once cooked >>

7. When chicken is ready to remove from the oven (make sure it’s not pink in the center of the largest piece) return to stove top on medium/low heat and stir in the thickened mushrooms. Simmer for 10 minutes before serving. If you want an even thicker sauce add a little more flour to the stew (a little goes a long way).